Loose leaf structure



Feb. 5, 1935. J. SCHADE 1,990,136

7 I Y LOOSE LEAF STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 11, 1934 lgH INVENT JDHN SCHAD E ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 5, 1935 UNITED This invention relates to improvements in'loose leaf structure. be used for holding a pack It may or filler of sheets and it may or may not be supplied with covers hinged to the loose leaf structure. 1 The improvements aredisclosed in their preferred form as applied to a binder suchas shown' my prio'rP'atent No. 1,954,494 of April 10, 1934. The features of-the'pres'ent. invention have particular importance inimproving the op eration of the typeof binder shown in said prior patent, butthe'yare' not limited to that use; This will appear in the description and claims. I 1

Since the construction and operation" of th'e parts' of th'e' specific disclosureh'erein are in some respects'ar'id up to a certain point quite' similar to. those fully described my prior patent, I will only show them here' a general way and confine the particulars and detailed description to the new features. I Fig. 1 is a plan View 0i acomplete loose leaf binder (except for the cut-away cover inreading po "tron with the improvements add'd3' Fig; 2 is alsecti on' the binder in pbsitio rrf qr anipulating the nose rear content-s mesa-ag s; I we 1 j j Fig.3 i's' 'a sidelview are latch destruction: I Fig.4'is'atol fview ofnhesame'; v, I Fig1'5" isaseeuonf qnli'nefi- -fi or F1241 Fig. 6 is a plan view of of the' guide merrihers; and a Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 61'; The timer s own made up "flat back plates" 1' and 2; having si e flanges 1 posts 30' and 31'; and" covers 3 anes 'a gen tal these art's' ay'p maue up-asin my prior eat ent'aherorthe am' purpes? v I Onthe offplate 2, I provi e an o erhangmgflaiig tswithaciess setiori 'Tl'i' outer dgei=rb11ea hinge ,ments' the inclinedinitial separation or the angle .0 for .the parts as shown in 7' This is an advantage in bringing posts 30 and:

e-FmE 31. more. nearly. vertical so asto permit the sheets on. each sideto .lie out more nearly flat on the covers as compared to the prior art structure.

The. lower .plates of members .78 vare extended inwardlyof plate land rivetedto the latter. On onemargin. of eachlower plate .(Fig. 6) I provide a g'e'arrack 79economica1lypunched out of the plate metal... gears 81' to ro'di'76. gears to the. rod. but, as in its bearing .without .To .engage these. racks I fasten It .isconvenient to. key the .the. rod is; freev to rotate applying force anywhere,

the. whole unit of. r'odand two gearsacts as an idler The functionisnotto. drive the rod. but merely to roll the :unit o'fiodand gears simultaneously alongitheracksfl9 .and guide the parts for the particular purpose tobe described. .The. rack teeth are quite thin and engage the gears.

on the pitch line. withllittle racks and gears may be tion such as is made by of sheet metal as most made. 4

In -the operation of and 2a r'e readily movable .friction. Both the vof.economical construe.-

punchin'g. the parts out of the other parts are the structure, plates 1 1 from fully overlapped (or-closed position with the gears at the left ends of the racks) to Fig. l. The stop90 on the reading position of flange. 75 engages stop edge 91 of latch 92, when the partsreach reading" position so as o'f-the plates. By 93', plates 1 and" 2 may to prevent further separation pressing down at latch end.

be separated, until rod 76 'eng'ages'bends '78 in. end plates '78; in this osition the merit" to position of Fig.

will reset the"l'atch by. like art 7'7 the back plates'are hingedfor move- 2; In the reverse move-- surface 'Wof thev part '77 camming up end 93 as ..will reset'it if necessary in the plates 1 andv 2. This is a'simple cam arrangement for resetting the latch of Figi3 by the movement of the adjacent end of flange '77.

Except for the character of the. latch operation, theprovision 'for the fb'roken back addition'ofthe rack and tion, it will be seen that the smallerangle C in 3 position of the book, and the gear structure and fundthe structure and function of this disclosure are like that of my prior patent,

In my previous construetion I took particular pains to locate the late part of. the book. was because stop located at one end h stop near the central a latch would act as'a pivot f or the back plates to swing a considerable amount the same parts from such a movement to a piv-m,

out of desirable alignment. In the manufacture of loose leaf books it is highly desirable and customary to use sheet metal parts and stampings. In this work it is very difiicult to get mechanism to work together without giving its parts a loose fitting relation. When that it done the danger is to have the parts too loose for nice operation.

There is a tendency in the manufacture to have the parts either "too tight; 0111700 loose -.for the operations, for I have found it extremely diflicult after much experience to make What I want commercially in these, structures and avoid the darn gers of cramping, shifting, and misalignment of parts in their operations; I These difiiculties presentfthems'elves inmostserious. Ways with relation to such a structure as that of my prior patent. They present the problems of the present invention. These problems are to make a loose leaf structure of aparticular character with overlapping back plates,

easily. slidable to and from closedand reading position, and pivotally movablev out of the o'ver-. lapped position to break/the book backfor page changes, and to provide thisstructure in economical fashion so. that all its parts are loose.

enough to operate veryfreely. andyeti in proper alignment of parts at all times. The difficulty in holding the desired alignment is due chiefly to the necessity of (providing for. both a: straight .line. movement and a. pivotal movementv of .the

same parts with .a smooth-transition from one to the other as wanted. If pivotal movement, alone of the back plateswere wanted there would;

be no difficulty. It is the straight'line -move-' ment of the back plates that is hard to holdin alignment .by economical and satisfactory meansand it is still harder when it is desired to transfer otal. one.

By the means I have described in their preferred form, I .have nowacoomplished all that is wanted asfarasI know in a-loose leaf struc-- ture of the type :I set'outtoimprove; In'th'e movement of the parts, plates 1 and 2 slide from fully.overlappedposition to reading position and they cannotcramp even though thepull is applied carelessly as from. the line of theylowerv corners of the covers. Such apull tends to sep-, arate the back plates at one end and cramp them at the. other end (by pivotal movement taking advantage of all play between the *parts). But with the rack andgear means supplied by me the tendency toward such cramping movement is diverted to operating the gears. They. must operate in' their racks and must move in unison.

'And so with the slightestcomponentof,force to make the gears roll in the racks .they will do that and .thelother parts mustfollow since the gears andracks are aligned for parallel movement of top and bottom parts. .-This absolutely, prevents cramping and the objectionable .ef fects of twistingmovements of the parts on careless operation by the user to open or, close the structure. By making the pivotal connection of rod 76. between the backplates. land 2 in,

line withthe axis of the gearsj81 which roll to, theouter ends of the racks 79, I have provided means for getting the equalizing movement for relative parallel movement for allparts ofthe back plates and also for their pivotal movement at the end of the parallel movement and-withoutthe means for controlling. one movement interfering with the other but on the contrary each assisting the other at the'right timeof operation.

The simple structure gives me a perfect equalizer mechanism or parallel motion means having a part functioning for the pivotal movement when desired.

A further refinement in the loose leaf structure consists in the'latch and its relation to the other parts. Because of the equalizer mechanism controlling'the, backplates I canmake a. simpleform of latch 92 w'ith its" stop edge 91 lotatedladjacent one end only of the back plates. This is,

most convenient for manipulation by simple structure as will be seen by comparing the present formoflatch with that shown in my prior patent ,wherethe shock due to the latch stop was best -localized-at the central part of the book to avoid cramping. a

The simple pivoted form of latch 92 has finger piece 93 at one end and stop piece 91 at the other end. The opposite sides of 93 are slightly tipped up (see Fig. 3) so as to reset the latch as thecam" surfaces 77' .and 77'f1atthe end ,or

corner of plate 2 move by it in either direction. This corner has theoppositely-disposed cam surfaces to do this.- And theinner ,camsurface, 77" will always rideunder the other end 91, of the latch slightly tipped; up; for this purpose (see Fig.3) when the plate 2, star-ts to: move inwardly.

When the plate 2, moves outwardly itsv lower core ner; has a ledge 90 wthat willpalways strike the stop ledge 91'. of the. latch'unlessthe finger piece is; deliberately pressed down to release the latch stop. Thelatch shown has a-tendencyby slight friction atits pivot to staydnthe position set. But it should be noted that thelatch will always be automaticallyireset by the movementof the plate-2- if it;i s not already set to act as a stop.

Between thetime of resetting and stop action of the; latch 92 :thelatter will not-get out of position because resetting and stopping takegplace almost at the same'time.

' Havingfully disclosed my invention in the best' other and broader claims, all insofar as the prior plates,-guide means forholding saidplates-during overlapped; and slidable. relation, sheet holding, posts attached to theplates equalizing means;

operable by movementofsaid plates for maintaining the sides of the :plates parallel; as they are moved to .ya yingoverlapped positions andmeans for-holding, the plates in pivotal. engagement with each other ,when they are :moved out of overg lapped relation.

y2 .,-A-loose leaf structure consisting of two back plates, guide meansforholding said plates dur+ ing-overlapped and slidablerelation to each other, sheet holding posts attached to said plates, equalizing means operableby movement of said plates and located within the end confines of said plates;

for maintaining them in side edgeparallelrela tion at all times as they are moved .to varying overlapped positions and means for holding said plates in pivotal engagement with each other when they are moved out of overlapped relation.

3. Inaloose leaf structure of the kind having two back plates with associated sheet binding posts and connected together, to slide intooveis,

lapped flat back relation and to separate and pivot into broken back relation, the combination of parallel motion mechanism attached to and operable by movements of the plates to keep the corresponding edges of said plates parallel at all times during overlapped relation and means in addition to said mechanism to connect the plates together for relatively slidable and pivotal movements.

4. In a loose leaf structure, the combination of two back plates with sets of sheet binding posts, means connecting said plates together for relatively sliding and pivotal movements to position said posts as desired, said plates and connecting means having considerable lost motion as by loosely fitting parts to permit easy operation and to avoid friction, and parallel motion mechanism in part located onone plate and. in part located on the other plate and operable by relatively sliding movements of the plates to accurately hold said plates from any relative movement other than parallel movement permitted by their lost motion connections. Y

5. In a loose leaf structure, two back plates having at their ends interengaging parts loosely fitted together to connect the plates for sliding and piv-.- otal movements, racks and idler pinion means on said plates operable to. maintain said plates in easily slidable relation to avoid cramping due to the looseness of said interfitting parts.

'6. In a loose leaf structure, two back plates connectedtogether for sliding movement, gear racks on one plate and idler gears mounted on a single idler shaft on the otherplate to engage said racks, a pivotal connection for the edges of said plates operable for pivotal movement when the plates are separated, said pivotal connection having an axis coincident with the axis of said idler gears.

7. A loose leaf binder comprising a back plate having adjacent one side sheet postsmounted to overhang the plate, and an attached cover, the other end of said plate having a hook-shaped overhanging marginal portion, the outer edge of which forms a hinge eye, a hinge pintle or rod in said eye, spaced idler pinions keyed on saidrod, a second back plate also having like sheet posts along one side and cover attached at one edge, slots formed at each end of the latter plate to receive the ends of said pintle and serve as hinge parts with the latter as well as connecting means 1 between the plates, parallel gear racks on the latter plate in engagement with said idler pinions' whereby the plates are constrained to move in desired parallel relation at all times except when operating on the hinge for pivotal movement.

8. The combination of claim '7 and a latch lo cated with parts on each plate and at one end of the binder.

9. A loose leaf structure having in combination two generally flat back plates with'sheet holding posts arranged for separation by sliding and piveotal movements, means to connect said plates together for such movements and idler mechanism to restrain sliding movement of the plates to the desired parallel relation. v

10. The structure of claim 9 and said mechanism including idler gearrack means on oneplate and gear means onthe other plate engaging said rack means.

11. In a loose leaf structure, two back plates connected together for sliding movement, a pairof spaced gear racks and a pair of idler gears mountedon said plates as an equalizing mechanism, pivotal connecting means for the edges of said plates operable for pivotal movementwhen the plates are separated, said pivotal means having an axis coincident withthe axis of the idler gears whereby the latter may engage their racks asthe plates pivot on said axis.

12. In a loose leaf structure, two back plates having sheet binding posts attached thereto and connected together for sliding movement, a pair of spaced gear racks transversely arranged on one plate, a rod rotatably mounted at the long adjacent edge of the other plate to overhang saidracks, gears on said rod and connected bythe latter to turn together as theyengage, said, racks during sliding movement of thevplates, pivotal means adapted to mount the ends of saidrod when the plates are spread apart for pivotal-move 'ment of said plates while the gears remain in engagement with said racks, said gears, rod, and

racks forming an idler equalizing means operable by the movements of the said plates to difierent positions for placing the sheet binding posts ,as desired.

JOHN SCHADE. 

